


Family

by GayAndConfusedTM



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Aang (Avatar)-centric, Air Nomad Genocide (Avatar), Gen, Guilt, Panic Attacks, Self-Hatred, Western Air Temple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:36:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayAndConfusedTM/pseuds/GayAndConfusedTM
Summary: Aang discovers something he really shouldn't have, and it results in him finally breaking after months of hiding his feelings for the sake of the world.Lucky for him, he has a family that will be there for him no matter what.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Suki (Avatar), Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 112





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> I just need this boy to show his feelings and stop blaming himself for everything.
> 
> Me: *hits aang gently* stop blaming yourself for everything YOU'RE MF TWELVE GOD DAMN IT!

It was a peaceful day at the Western Air Temple, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were watching and teasing Aang and Zuko, who were currently practicing parts of the advanced katas the fir nation prince knew. Aang was catching fireballs left and right when he heard The Duke and Haru entering the training ground, being scolded by Teo.

Aang dodged another flaming fist as Sokka noticed the three new people in the room, "oh hey guys, wanna watch the jerkbender kicking Aang's ass?" Zuko glared at the water tribe boy, "I told you to stop fucking calling me that!"

"WOAH! Watch your language, there are children present!" Sokka mockingly gasped, which only resulted in everyone rolling their eyes at him, "we were just talking about a new place we found in the temple and wanted to see if anyone wanted to come with us!" Teo explained, pointing to the furthest building on the cliff.

Aang kicked a blast at Zuko, and smiled brightly, "ooh! I want to! Zuko can I go with them?" He looked at Zuko expectedly, and the older boy sighed "fine, but I expect you to show up again by noon or so help me agni-" "Thank you Sifu hitman!" He called, running off with the other three before Zuko could yell at him for the ridiculous name - which was awesome and in-fashion thank you very much.

Teo kept talking about a new gadget he was working on as they finally reached the building. They were standing in front of a huge door, with a big air-lock on it. Aang signaled the others to get back as he prepared his airbending, "these locks can be opened by airbenders only, so I need to blast into this-" he pointed at the right one, "-and then it goes out from this one!" He pointed at the left one, and blew a gust of air through the pipes, "oh man! I always wanted to explore this temple more! I've been here for my arrow quest, but had to leave before I could see anything," the doors unlocked and opened slowly, "Gyatso said this temple was hiding many fun activities and mysteries! Man, I hope we find a-" he paused as they entered and light was finally filling the room.

The door revealed a giant library, with light blue walls covered with dust and scorch marks, books scattered on the white tiled floor, some unharmed but the majority completely burned. In the middle, there was a small burned table, a shuttered lamp, and a sigh to a once quality ink and pens.

The others were still standing in the doorway as the airbender slowly walked inside and crouched towards the books. He was looking over the unreadable scrolls, trying to find anything other than destruction and the smell of ashes. Teo wheeled himself towards the table looking at something and cringes with horror and sympathy.

"Aang," Haru picked his words carefully, leaning his hand on the airbender's shoulder, "maybe we should go... help Katara or something! I think she was making lunch in the main hall the last time I saw her..." Haru smiled at the Avatar kindly, while Teo wheeled himself almost completely out of the room with The Duke now on his lap. Aang hesitated, and eventually looked up at Haru and nodded, with an unreadable expression.

Aang couldn't help but feel a tiny deja vù, looking at this room reminded him of the day at the Southern Air Temple, filled with snow and ash and lost memories, Once a beautiful place, home of nomads, of fluffy sky bisons and jumpy and playful lemurs, turned into a haunted building, no longer feeling like home, no longer filled with a careless and free life. He couldn't deny the creeping feeling in his chest, tearing him apart with guilt. He caused this.

The four were leaving the room when Aang suddenly bumped into the tiny table and knocked it down. He looked at the others with a forced chuckle and was about to follow them once more when he noticed a dusty pile of paper, that was surprisingly unharmed.

Teo tensed when realizing what Aang was looking at, looking at Haru in a silent warning that went unnoticed.

The three at the doorway looked at the small Airbender picking up one of the papers and starts reading with a neutral expression. They looked at the boy picking up another page, and then another, panic filling his features as he quickly read through the papers.

_ Hello future reader, _   
_ If you found those papers it means the fire nation hasn't found them or decided that this will be the only thing left of the air nomads. The fire nation is coming closer, we can hear their vehicles moving quickly above us. I think the structure of our temple bought us some time, but I fear not long enough to evacuate and properly ready ourselves. We heard what happened with Avatar Roku 12 years ago, and while none of us wanted to admit it, we knew this day will come sooner or later. People are talking about huge fires in the south, north, and the east, I am afraid this letter is goodbye. _

Aang leaned on the table, trying to keep his shaking body standing.

_ I have gone to talk with our elders, they informed us there is nothing to worry about but I don't think even they believe it. The fire nation is going to invade our home, is going to burn these sacred builds. _   
_ I am- _

There was a smudge of ink on the paper, the writer couldn't keep their shaking hand from messing their neat writing. Aang could only whimper quietly as he already knew what was going to happen.

_ They came into the temple. They are using the comet, even if we did fight them, I don't think there was a chance for us to even begin with. I hear screams. Whispers. Crashes. I am scared, I cannot go outside, my best friend got me to swear on Mali, she is my sky bison. I worry about her, I'm worried about my friend too. The temple is shaking, and I am trying to steady my hands enough to write this to you. I heard the soldiers yell something about erasing all of us, all the air nomads. Suddenly the fires make so much sense, our people, our traditions, our history, and beliefs are getting erased from the world today. _

Aang shook his head, suddenly looking so small and young, so lost and sad. The three could only watch, wide-eyed, as their friend breaks.

It just wasn't fair. It. Wasn't. Fair.

_ They are coming closer, I am hiding here with four other children, all seem to be younger than me. I must protect them as best as I can. I can't hear screams anymore. 2 hours passed and I cannot hear anyone anymore. I fear we are the only ones left. I would like to dedicate my writing to my elders, who taught and listened and helped us all be who we are today, I want to dedicate my writing to my people from all the other temple, who my heart is aching and screaming for, I want to dedicate my writing to my best friends, Koren and Mali, who've been there since I was a little girl. I heard the avatar was still so young to be prepared for the attacks, a little boy from the southern temple. He visited here once on his arrow quest, I was told. The youngest air nomad to receive an arrow of a master in the last 1000 years. _

Aang couldn't feel more disgusted with himself, looking at those words of his fellow air nomad, talking about him with an honor he didn't deserve. He felt nauseated, he wasn't there for them. He could have been there for them.

_ I feel uneasy when I remember this boy is probably dead by now. How can the fire nation be so... cruel? We were taught even the smallest living creature has a purpose, has a life to lead, and that we shouldn't meddle in the process of life. Are they really willing to throw millions of lives away? For what, exactly? _

_ They are coming closer- _

Aang flinched,

_The kids are scared. I am scared. They are shouting. Slamming doors and breaking things. I never thought I would be the last line if defense in anything in my life, and yet again, I never thought I would be in the middle of a genocide. I guess life loves to surprise us, whether for the good and the bad. I will protect them. It is my job as the only grown-up left in the temple, no matter the fact I am 16 and still haven't begun learning airbending. I will do my best. Like the heroes from the tales the elders brought to us from their far-away trips._

_To anyone who reads this, I hope you came with good intentions. This ruined place was once so, so beautiful, so full of life. So colorful and happy.'_

_There were teardrops on the paper, and Aang couldn't figure out if they were from the writer or him._

_'The air nomad civilization was beautiful. I hope you remember us._

_Yours truly,_   
_Sa-_

Once again, there were smudged of ink, now looking messier. Aang stopped breathing when he saw little scorch marks that nearly made it on the page and little droplets of a brown liquid. And Aang knew it was once red, it was once a person. Who bled in this room protecting young ones. Who had to live as the last line separating the children and death. What of the children? If this person died, then... the children...

Aang couldn't do this. Every single glance at the droplets littering the page were like a free fall to the rock spikes field near the southern temple he once knew. His people. His culture. His loved ones and people he could have bonded with as he grew older. Masters, women, children. Slaughtered without a care. He was responsible for it. He wasn't there.

**He wasn't there**   
**He wasn't there**   
**He wasn't there he wasn't there he wasn't there-**

Before he could process his body moving, he took his glider and flew throug the shuttered window. He didn't know what he was doing, where he was going. In those moments in the sky it felt like his body and mind separated, his body had a direction and control on it's own, while his head was drowned in guilt-

**HE WASN'T THERE**

-and hurt and regret and so much PAIN **WHY WAS EVERYTHING HURTING HIS HEART HIS BODY HIS MIND IT HURT IT HURT ITHURTSITHURTSPLEASEMAKEITSTOPPLEASE-**

He hadn't realized he was falling from the sky until he hit the solid ground with a large thud and a large crack. He heard blurry voices calling out and it hurt so FRICKING MUCH-

**HE WEREN'T THERE HE WASN'T THERE**

He curled into a ball on the floor, clutching his head in his hands and pleading for everything to just stop, all the voices, all the noise, all the hurt. He wasn't there for them and now they are dead, everyone's dead, and he was alive, why was HE alive he shouldn't be, he didn't deserve it, he killed them he ran away and killed them, HE DIDNT DESERVE TO BE ALIVE HE DIDNT DESERVE TO BE HERE WHILE EVERYONE'S GONE!

The blurry voices sounded scared, they were scared and dead, they yelled his name, begged for him to answer but he couldn't, couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe **hecouldn'tbreathe-**

Two arms wrapped around him, bringing him close and rocking him back and forth, trying to comfort him. Why? Why would they-

'Aang I am going to need you to breathe with me, okay? You are going to follow my lead and breath with me, okay?'

Aang's hand was held gently and placed on something warm, a warm cloth, a body. Alive alive alive they are breathing they are alive safe safe

He whimpered, clutching to the voice, to the person holding him. They were alive, and they were breathing funny, and Aang almost had a heart attack before he realized the person was doing it on purpose and was expecting his to do the same.

He recognized this thing, it was something he saw Kuzon do with his older sister. It helped her breathe when she panicked and started breathing in a really messy and uneven way. She was mentally ill, said Kuzon, something happened to her when she was young (something Kuzon didn't want to share with him) and sometimes she would dream or think about it and wouldn't be able to breathe. Kuzon was warm and gentle, and friendly, and patient, and interesting and adventurous and Aang missed him so much.

Somehow this person holding him right now felt awfully similar to the fire nation boy he knew a hundred years ago, and it made Aang be able to move again. He clutch to the person's chest, he needed to feel their heartbeat and copied their breathing.

He was shaking, his mind was still drowned in a dark void of guilt and self-loathing, but something about the moment where the arms wrapped around him squeezed a little around his body and a little praise was whispered to him was so important to him, made him so miserable and tired and so relieved he buried his face into the shirt he was clutching and let himself sob freely instead of the choking mess he forced himself to be ever since he saw his guardian's skeleton in the southern air temple. He was supposed to be strong for the world, to win the war and help and provide and be a big boy and be responsible and unbreakable and brave because he was the Avatar, and he already failed everyone the first time. He couldn't cry or feel, he needed to be strong. But now, he was a twelve years old child, who lost his people, who refused to let out the storm in his heart and mind and kept his grief to himself. He needed to sob, he needed to be a child, he needed to cry for his people, he needed to hurt for his friends, his family.

It seemed the voices agreed with him.

_'It's okay to cry, you need it more than anyone. It's totally fine to feel.'_

_'It wasn't your fault, twinkle toes. Stop blaming yourself for everything.'_

_'We are here for you, Aang. Always.'_

_'We love you so much, buddy. So, so much.'_

_'Meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me Aang. I'm so glad we have you. I am so glad to know you and call you my ally and friend.'_

_'I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, son. You don't deserve this. No child does. No one does.'_

Arms wrapped around him, so many bodies, all breathing and alive and hugging him. They were here, surrounding him and patting his shoulder and head and hugging him with so much care he couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears. He was so warm, so loved and he just felt so lost and scared and happy and hurt and touched, he was crying, clutching to anyone he could reach and just let himself go.

He was sad, so so sad, but the feeling of Katara holding his hand and holding it to her mouth, whispering comforting and calming words that sent shivers down his spine, Sokka patting his head slowly and looking at him like he mattered, Toph pressing herself to his shaking body and clutching his clothes like he would disappear with just a tiny movement if hers, Ski sitting next to Sokka and looking at him so sadly but hopefully, Hakoda watching them and keeping a little bit distance with this look that loving look only a parent can give, and Zuko clutching his tightly against his chest and looking at him so proudly and so lovingly made Aang think he might explode. His family, his precious family he loved so much was there with him.

It was night at the air temple, and the group of teenagers slept on the ground, embracing and protecting each other. Right now they weren't fighting a war, they didn't have to be brave. They were children, traumatized and scared children that held so much love for each other, they were a family and were willing to protect their family from anything, anytime. They all surrounded Aang, all talked him into eating and sleeping and letting Katara treat his broken nose, all cared for him. They were here, alive, and they loved him. That fact alone made Aang's heart ache with pure love and happiness and the void didn't look so dark after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it :)  
> Pls leave a kudos and a comment! Love you❤


End file.
